Time analyzers are commonly used for high resolution, multiple-stop time spectrometry. Such analyzers can be used to record event times in the microsecond range. Moreover, picosecond precision may be desirable for applications in time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, photon timing and in pulse or signal jitter analysis. It has been heretofore known that time analyzers can be based on a coarse counter and an interpolation method in which the interpolation enhances the time resolution. Known prior art technology relating to such interpolators can be found in a paper published by M. Lampton and R. Raffanti entitled "A High-Speed Wide Dynamic Range Time-To-Digital Converter". Rev. Sci. Instrum. 65 (11), November, 1994. A further interpolator technique is disclosed in an article by Andrew Barry entitled "Dual Time to Digital Converter for Delay-Line Readout of Position-Sensitive-Gas-Field Detectors". Rev. Sci. Instrum. 64 (5), May, 1993. These publications which are incorporated by reference and submitted with this application disclose technology related to mapping from acquired quadrature samples to interpolated time. The mapping functions thus produced compensate for certain system imperfections and allow for more accurate mapping and better instrument performance. However, such techniques and instruments do not provide for temperature compensation such that the analyzer can be used at various temperatures common in practical applications without either performance degradation or instrument recalibration in the field.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a time analyzer that enables precision, high resolution time measurement over a wide operating temperature range without the need for recalibration in the field. Another object of the present invention is to provide such a time analyzer which achieves high precision operation through temperature compensation. In prior art where an instrument requires a continuous supply of samples to maintain calibration, sparse measurements cannot be made inasmuch as there is a minimum throughput requirement. Thus, a further object of the present invention is to allow greater time measurement precision to be achieved by a practical analyzer which can be operated over a selected temperature range without putting restrictions on minimum sample throughput. Other objects and advantages of the instrument will become apparent upon reading the detailed description together with the drawings described as follows.